Cleveland Plan Passes; Plunder-Pals In Denial

After weeks of ironing out the details and incorporating ideas from both Republicans and Democrats, Mayor Frank Jackson's “Cleveland Plan” passed in the legislature yesterday, and in bipartisan fashion.

The House voted 77-16 Tuesday to approve the measure. The Ohio Senate voted 27-4 Tuesday on an identical measure, and is expected to adopt the House version Wednesday before it is sent to the governor.

And adopt the House version they did, as today the Senate once again voted 27-4 in favor of sending the Cleveland Plan to the Governor's desk.

This is beyond amazing news for every child in the Cleveland area, as the legislation is the first of its kind to truly put children first. And its reforms are badly needed in a district that's mired in a financial crisis, while seeing its graduation rates hover just above 50%.

But the best part was that it was all done with a true spirit of bipartisanship. The plan was written by Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson, a Democrat, promoted vigorously by Governor John Kasich, a Republican and the Senate bill was co-sponsored by Big Labor darling, Senator Nina Turner, also a Democrat.

And after hammering out the specifics, and taking all perspectives into account, it passed with all but four votes in the Senate. That's bipartisanship, folks.

But, wait, wasn't it just a couple weeks ago that the Cleveland Plan was declared dead by the liberal left?

Despite Kasich’s praise, the Cleveland Plan is dead.

“...within the next month the key sponsors, most notably Nina Turner, will work to back out of the process and point to local collaboration as being the reason the bill is no longer needed and supporting the local effort as supporting evidence for a request for a Cleveland schools levy.

And that will be the final nail in the coffin of the Cleveland Plan.”

Or was it just this past Monday...

“...We’re not sure how the Cleveland Plan will end up in the House Ed committee long-term, but it seems very unlikely that the committee will approve the plan...” (Emphasis ours)

So, not only were the Plunder-Pals wrong (again), but they missed the mark by a long shot. The legislation not only passed, it garnered significant support from Democrats, including the vote of House Minority Leader Armond Budish and Senate Minority Leader Eric Kearney. What gives, Plunder-Pals?

Oh yea. That.

Unfortunately, those on the most fringe elements of the liberal left—like our friends, the Plunder-Pals—will stop at nothing to ridicule Republican leaders, like Governor Kasich, even when their policies are backed, not only by bipartisan lawmakers, but by local leaders and labor unions as well.

Every pertinent party was at the table and agreed that this plan was needed, and they got the job done. But since Governor Kasich supported the measure, the Plunder-Pals must ridicule all those involved.

Senator Nina Turner, champion of the fight against Senate Bill 5? She might as well be expelled from the Democrat party if the Plunder-Pals had their way. She committed the cardinal sin of supporting Governor Kasich.

Honestly, you have to wonder if Governor Kasich had the ability to flip a switch and fix all of Ohio's problems, bring unemployment to 0%, completely fund all agencies, schools and other obligations, and give everyone in the state a puppy, whether the Plunder-Pals would condemn him for it.

Well, you can wonder, but the puppy thing made the answer pretty clear:

The liberal left, led by the Plunder-Pals, is so full of hate, they will denounce anything associated with a Republican. It doesn't matter that the children—our future generations—will benefit from the Cleveland Plan. It doesn't matter how necessary the legislation is to addressing Cleveland's fiscal crisis. And it certainly doesn't matter how bipartisan the process was.

No, in the end, passing anything with bipartisan support is a hate crime. And if a Democrat supports anything from the mouth of Governor Kasich, well, that's synonymous with treason in Plunderland.

And that hate is what's at the heart of the Democrat party, folks.

Cross-posted at GOHP Blog.